Oh boy,
You want to hear something really interesting - here goes. You will not find this in a marketing book.... well.... maybe my marketing book, because I have the cajones to actually write about it in great detail......
Here is a sample from my upcoming book....
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CHAPTER 1
ARMIES Of FEAR: and how to avoid them…This next part about the selling process is going to alienate some of you. There was a really interesting article in USA Today this morning concerning the notion of God. There are 4 basic views about how Americans view God according to this study which involved 1600 people. The results were quite interesting and I am going to share them with you.
The views of God not only broke down into four distinct groups. But the numbers of those views were close around 25% each. Americans believe in a “Distant God” which is where our inhumanity to our fellow men is a result of an independent decision and is not a result of God getting angry with us by delivering an act of punishment. Just as a storm is a storm or a tornado is a tornado a Distant God does not judge the people directly with acts of unspeakable violence. People who believe in a Distant God came in at 24%.
This study gets a little more involving as you can imagine. There are those who believe that God hands out torture and violence like an angry person. This is a way of making God more human and judgmental. The Authorative God hands out punishment unless you make things right with him. Surprisingly, 28% of the people polled believe in this type of Supreme Being. As of right now there are people in America who believe that we, as a nation, need to get their act straight so we can become the top world leader again. This type of thinking will explain a lot about money and we will cover that in the next few pages.
The Benevolent God cries at war, and is happy for us as we spread and joy and love. It is a human type of thinking God. According to this survey 22% believe in this type of ultimate being. It is a cosmic force of good that cares for all living things. It is a thinking individual that cares and is always around when you call upon him.
The Critical God is one that is based in poor thinking. The examples they give go as follow, “I may be poor on earth now but will be rewarded with many mansions.”. “I may not have any decent cars now but when I die I will be blessed with solid gold chariots” and the list goes on and on. There were 24% of people who believed in this type of God.
Now 5% did not believe in any form of God . You can find this study in USA Today, on the date 10/7/2010. It is worth picking up and reviewing it. You can also find this study online. It describes some very limiting beliefs about God in general. Keep in mind that other studies revealed that there were at least 22 other types of God out there. There is the popular version of God served up by Michigan author, Wayne Dyer, who views God as an impersonal all giving Universal source of blessings. This particular God doesn’t condemn, he doesn’t judge you and will not send you to the horrors of Hell.
Now, it gets more interesting because Dyer is part of the new alternative thinking group. His teachings are unique in the sense that his belief is that Hell is a temporary condition. This is a popular Kabbalistic belief too based in Judaism. This is a holistic belief that is embraced by a lot of overnight gurus that serve their talents in the form of business coach, life coaches, and spiritual coaches. Keep in mind that even as little as 10 years ago we did not have an over abundance of these sorts infiltrating the marketplace. They sort of arrived at their calling as thousands found themselves unemployable in the new economy.
Faith is a big money making business. Money has a lot to do with God in this case because they are intertwined so closely in this current thought.
Now it is going to get interesting. Notice how many people in this survey believe that God is a human type of life form that doles out favors, asserts guilt and blame and dishes out contempt. There is another view from people where they are easy to give up on their dreams. They will be wiped out on the face of existence and then opt for some riches to appear in the afterlife. When you think about how poor people are in this country with bankruptcy and debt I cannot help but think about their views of God. This is a very loaded subject.
Do you think that maybe with this poor opinion of God would have anything to do with the poor performers in your sales group? Would it explain the number of people who are unqualified to buy from you? Would this also explain poverty enhanced thinking? Are these concepts of God to blame for people who don’t go after their dreams?
